Discount Curtain Upgrade

When I was putting away all of the festive holiday decorations this year, I decided to make a few minor decorating adjustments around the house.  It’s nice to change up some things to give it a fresh feeling.  Of course, I don’t want to spend a ton of money making these adjustments so I’ve come up with a few cheap/effective solutions.  Today, I want to share my cheap curtain upgrade idea. 

I started with these nice-enough curtains from a discount warehouse and hung them in the dining room.  They are a soft mossy green with iridescent squiggles running through.   I like the fabric, and the colors suit the room really well but something was too blah about them. 

I wanted some softer lines and curves rather than the right angles of this arrangement.  I like the idea of a scalloped valance.  Something like this. 

I figured I could sew some gathers but first, I set out to find some buttons to attach at the gathered points.  When I saw the price of the buttons that I liked, I decided to look for other options. That’s when I found these clip/pin flowers made from ribbon. 

                                           

They were $1 each and I knew this would be a fast, elegant and cheap alternative to sewing the gathers and attaching buttons.  All I needed was to pick up a roll of pretty matching ribbon for tie backs and a couple of sheers that I knew I had at home. 

Step 1: Gather curtain and clip on flower

Step 2: Tie bows from ribbon to make tie backs.

Step 3: Add shears and tie back.  Done!

The ribbon cost $3 and the flowers were $2.  So it took $5 and about 10 minutes of my time to get to my final result.  What do you think?